Real-World Theories About ‘Fortnite Battle Royale’

Fortnite is taking the world by storm — not only the gaming world — but also the real world. As the action/building game prepares to launch its highly anticipated fifth season, fans have been discovering elements of Fornite Battle Royale in real life. For instance, a llama piñata loot box was recently discovered in London, England. Mysterious rifts have also been appearing the game. What does it all mean?

Let’s jump into some theories about why Fortnite seems to be leaking into the real world and what it could mean for Season 5.

A Fortnite Scavenger Hunt

Loot box llama piñatas have started appearing all over Europe. So far the locations of seven llamas have been confirmed: two in London, one in Cologne, Germany, one in Barcelona, Spain, one in Warsaw, Poland, one in Paris, and one in Cannes, France. These llamas are apparently being guarded by Epic Games staff who are warding off anyone who would want to break one open.

In addition to llamas seemingly breaking out of the game and onto the streets of Paris, the head of the fast food mascot, the Durr Burger, was also found in a California desert. Before you think this sounds like the plot of an X-Files episode, just wait. On Friday, July 6, Los Angeles-based photographer Sela Shiloni was out location scouting in the desert when he came across a giant burger head. The head was guarded by an old, unmarked police car.

The burger head was none other than the Durr Burger mascot, which had gone missing from Fortnite sometime after the rocket launch on Saturday, June 30. Speaking of the rocket launch…

Beware the Rift

At 10:30AM PST, Fortnite fans were invited to participate in a major event in the Battle Royale game. I logged on around 10:25AM to make sure I was in the game and made it in on time. It was pretty wild. A massive rocket was launched that tore up the sky above the battle island. Strange, indiscernible noises could be heard all over the game, and the controller pad shook.

When the dust settled, the sky had a blue, glowing rift tearing through it. I took the picture above on my Switch around 10:36AM, just minutes after the rocket launch. The rift has since begun to grow and splinter into three different branches. Since the launch and the splintering, different items on the island have gone missing, like the Durr Burger head.

The giant pizza head has also gone missing, as well as other random items. Rifts have opened up on the ground as well, around items that have gone missing and in other random places. For instance, there is a spooky glow around the Lonely Lodge. There is also a glow on the hillside near Greasy Grove and in Moisty Mire.

As I write this article, a skeleton has come through the rift in the Mire! It appears to be the bones of some kind of animal, possibly a dinosaur or some other long-extinct beast. The Mire always felt prehistoric to me anyway — very La Brea Tar Pits — so it makes sense that a fossil would emerge here. An anchor appeared out of the Greasy Grove rift earlier this week, so expect more items to come through into the game and out into the real world.

Decoding the Puzzle

So what does it all mean? Rifts in time and space could very well mean that the fictional world of Fortnite will be merging with the real world that we know and love. How is that possible? The game could introduce figures from history, or even items and weapons that have had great historical significance.

The ship’s anchor on the hillside, the animal fossil, those things could point to a time in the island’s past. Perhaps it will very a very in-game history, like a ship yard instead of a train yard, and boats instead of cars. If the island does in fact revert to a previous time in its history, what items or lands would you want to see?